In part two of a two-part series begun last week, here we present four recently published nonfiction books that deal with religion and spirituality in plot, theme or subject matter — without proselytizing.

• “In the House of the Serpent Handler: A Story of Faith and Fleeting Fame in the Age of Social Media” by Julia Duin (University of Tennessee Press)

Part exposé, part how-I-got-that-story memoir, this book by a veteran religion reporter is a deeper dive into the Pentecostal snake-handler scene than viewers got in National Geographic Channel’s short-lived “Snake Salvation.” The book “intimately recounts the story of serpent handlers raised in an Appalachian religious tradition where their ritualistic expression of faith is more ridiculed than understood,” Ralph Hood, a psychology professor at the University of Tennessee who studies snake handlers, said of the book. It “sheds a modern light on a misunderstood religious practice.”

• “What the Qur’an Meant and Why It Matters” by Garry Wills (Viking)

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Wills, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian also known for writing about his Catholicism, reads the Islamic holy book and attempts to explain it for a non-Muslim audience. Lesley Hazleton, a Muhammad biographer, called the book “a delight” in the New York Times Book Review, while Shadi Hamid, a Brookings fellow and an expert on Islam, gave the book a generally favorable review in The Washington Post but faulted Wills for some Western blind spots. “This is not a book by a scholar of Islam, so it shouldn’t be judged for its lack of originality,” Hamid writes. “It is a book for people who know little about the religion.”

British historian and Public Broadcasting Service staple Schama continues his retelling of the saga of the Jewish people, this time from the Spanish Inquisition to the European pogroms. He winds up just after the 1896 publication of a widely distributed pamphlet advocating for a Jewish state. This is popular, not academic, history (note it is the “story” of the Jews, not “history”) and Schama, the author of best-selling books such as “The American Future” and “Rough Crossings,” is routinely lauded for his easy style. “Schama is a remarkable storyteller,” Roger Cohen said in The New York Times Book Review. ” His approach is cinematic. He sets scenes with great vividness and writes, from street level, with an unflagging verve.”

• “The Exodus: How It Happened and Why It Matters” by Richard Elliott Friedman (HarperOne)

Friedman, a scholar known for his accessible writing, argues that the biblical story of the Jews’ journey out of Egypt is more history and less Hollywood a la Cecil B. DeMille (no special effects). The Exodus, he argues, is the source of much of what makes us human — the ideas of welcoming the stranger, of loving thy neighbor and of offering compassion. Reviews have generally lauded Friedman’s plain writing style, with a few caveats for oversimplification. “Friedman has a strong sense for making his readers understand why academic disputes matter,” Matt Bowman writes in the Deseret News. “The book is a valuable exploration not only of the Exodus, but of how scholarly research works.”